Mini-Con

Intentionally designed to look like the letter "M", the Mini-Con symbol is also reflected in the design of Unicron's helmet.

Mini-Cons (aka Minicons) are a race of small Transformers. Like the Micromasters they resemble, Mini-Cons are roughly human-sized—quite small compared to most Autobots and Decepticons—but while the Micromasters deliberately downsized into smaller bodies to conserve fuel, the naturally diminutive Mini-Cons overflow with energy. Most Mini-Cons possess the ability to impart a portion of this power on larger Cybertronians, granting them extra abilities or greatly increasing their strength through a process known as Powerlinxing.

Various stories have connected these mystical abilities to the influence of various godly beings: across the Transformers multiverse, different continuities have depicted them as the children of Unicron, the Last Autobot, or Micronus Prime. Regardless of their origins, however, their abilities make them useful allies and valuable partners—valuable to the point where different factions have come into conflict over these deceptively powerful beings.

Conceptual history

Mini-Cons debuted as the signature gimmick of the Armada franchise and in doing so resurrected the "micro play pattern" that began with the Micromasters and Mini-Cassettes from the original The Transformers toyline. Compared to these predecessors, however, the Mini-Cons sported increased articulation, a wide variety of alternate modes, and relatively complex transformation schemes, with some even able to combine into an accessory or a larger super robot. Each Mini-Con figure included a Powerlinx port, a 5mm round peg-slot that allowed them to connect to a larger toy and, in most cases, activate a spring-loaded play feature.

While every piece of tie-in Armada fiction featured Mini-Cons in some capacity, individual stories offered radically different portrayals of the Mini-Cons and their role in the conflict. The Armada cartoon initially portrayed them as artificial "smart tools" who communicated using R2-D2-style bleeps and bloops, occasionally manifested supernatural powers, and later revealed that Unicron had created them to deliberately agitate the raging Autobot-Decepticon war. Hirofumi Ichikawa's Linkage manga, a midquel set around the same time as the Armada television show, substantially expounded upon their biology and psychology, and explained various developments in the cartoon by introducing new concepts like Digital Entity Frames and the eponymous Linkage dimension. Dreamwave Productions' Armada comic, on the other hand, merely depicted the Mini-Cons as an ordinary Cybertronian subgroup unconnected to Unicron. Unlike their cartoon counterparts, these Mini-Cons were fully articulate beings who resented their role in the war, to the point where extremists like Dualor renounced both factions in the name of Mini-Con independence.

Although Armada's early storylines—which generally focussed on capturing small, colourful characters with limited vocabularies—drew unfavourable comparisons from cynical members of the adult fandom, the concept proved a smash hit with the target audience, and Hasbro and Takara extended the gimmick into both Energon and Cybertron. After that, however, Mini-Cons faded into the background; promotional material from the live-action films identified a number of small Decepticons like Frenzy as Mini-Cons, and the vaguely film-adjacent Power Core Combiners line featured Mini-Cons who could become either weapons or armor for their larger partners. From this point on, most stories dropped the conceit that Mini-Cons were a third faction unto themselves; like Micromasters before them, Mini-Con was used merely to describe their abilities rather than a factional designation.

Although some subsequent stories batted around other origins for the Mini-Cons that never caught on, it would be the launch of the Aligned continuity family in 2010 that pushed the Mini-Cons back into the forefront. As per the Binder of Revelation created to underpin the endeavour, the Mini-Cons were a diminutive race of Cybertronians who inhabited the planet's two moons. In a notable departure from what had come before, Hasbro backported the term to apply to basically all small Transformers, including characters like Ratbat and Frenzy. The Aligned continuity would go on to introduce a new origin story for the Mini-Cons that would carry forward into the next decade and largely eclipse Armada's Unicron mythology: 2013's The Covenant of Primus introduced Micronus Prime, a member of the Thirteen and the first Mini-Con. Comments from Hasbro representatives at the time clarified that, in this continuity, all Mini-Cons were his descendants. 2015's Robots in Disguise cartoon featured a number of new Mini-Con characters; carrying on from Soundwave's relationship with Laserbeak in the Prime cartoon, the show used the pre-existing term "Deployer" to describe those Cybertronians who formed a partnership with one or more Mini-Cons, and later "Weaponizer" in reference to a different group of Mini-Cons who transformed into weapons for their partners to wield.

With the end of the Aligned continuity in 2020 and the subsequent rise of heavily-Generation 1-focused media like the War for Cybertron Trilogy, franchise, Mini-Cons again fell by the wayside after Hasbro shifted back to marketing small characters as Micromasters and Mini-Cassettes. 2022's Legacy toyline featured the release of other "Unicron Trilogy" characters like Metroplex and Hot Shot, but without their partner Mini-Cons, leaving the future of the concept ambiguous.

Powerlinx

Main article: Powerlinx

Across the Unicron Trilogy, all Mini-Cons possess the ability to Powerlinx with other forms of technology—including both sentient Transformers and mundane machines—and instantly reconfigure their physical construction by sharing their own supernatural power. In this way, a Mini-Con for instance, modify ordinary cars into jet-powered assault vehicles, or upgrade Transformers with new weapons or additional functions. The Mini-Con is not required in order to activate these weapons again, but linking to a Mini-Con again simply enhances their firepower.

The Japanese Legends of the Microns dub called the phenomenon "Evolution", and had Autobots call out the phrase when they Powerlinxed. This has caused some confusion in the Armada viewing audience due to dub issues and the downplaying of the "Evolution" theme, although the term was used twice in the American series by Megatron.

Other continuity families have offered alternate interpretations of the process. Many of the Mini-Cons who have appeared in "Generation 1"-based stories appear to lack the ability entirely; in the "Aligned" continuity family, meanwhile, Mini-Cons can voluntarily interlock with larger Transformers but require genetic augmentation to access the ability to share their energy with their partners.

Fiction

Unicron Trilogy continuity family

Dreamwave Armada continuity

The ultimate friends to the boys and girls.

Mini-Cons were a second race of Transformer whose diminutive proportions and physical fragility led to Cybertronians treating them as second-class citizens. Despite their lowly status on pre-war Cybertron, each Mini-Con can naturally tap into a unique extradimensional power source, but most, naturally wary of this seemingly unlimited power, have installed inhibitors designed to prevent them from accessing this ability. More than Meets the Eye #3

In the years before the Autobot-Decepticon war, the Mini-Cons inhabited a designated Mini-Con Sector on Cybertron and divided that sector into a number of loose, largely autonomous "villages". However, this isolation left them open to attack when Megatron led his Decepticons on capture raids. Dreamwave Armada #1 Through experimentation on Mini-Con prisoners, the Decepticons used an ancient technological process to forcibly rewire their prisoners so that they could Powerlinx with them against their will. More than Meets the Eye #3 Fleeing the Decepticon advance, a small group of Mini-Cons escaped to the planet's abandoned Garbage Disposal District salvaged a junked ship with the intent of rescuing as many Mini-Cons as they could. As Megatron and his army used their new slaves to conquer Cyber City, Sparkplug, Jetstorm, Runway, and Sonar led a raid on Megatron's primary prison complex, freed as many Mini-Cons as they could, and escaped Cybertron. Armada #2

Y'know, Megatron, most people just bring a gift basket when they come over.

While Megatron and the Decepticons used their monopoly on the remaining Mini-Cons to run amok, the Exodus suffered a debilitating engine failure that ended with the ship breaking apart—half the ship crash-landed on ancient Earth and scattered dormant Mini-Cons across the planet, while the other half landed on the Moon. One million years later, Rad White and his friends discovered the crashed starship and inadvertently tripped the ship's restoration protocols, which alerted the Autobots and Decepticons on Cybertron to the location of the remaining Mini-Cons. Armada #3 When the Autobots and Decepticons arrived on Earth to find the Mini-Cons, Sparkplug and a number of recently reactivated Mini-Cons made the decision to Powerlinx with the Autobots to defeat the Decepticons, but made it clear that this alliance had to be a two-way partnership: if the Autobots treated them like slaves, they'd walk. Armada #5

Not all Mini-Cons willingly fell in with the Autobots, however: some, like the Land Military Team, remained free agents who openly distrusted both the Autobots and Decepticons. Armada #7 Others took the concept of Mini-Con independence to its logical extreme: marooned on the Moon with a small group of Mini-Cons who'd survived the crash, Dualor took command of the group and spent the next million years establishing a concealed Mini-Con Moonbase; ostensibly a place where Mini-Cons could live freely. Armada #9 The reactivation of the Earthbound Mini-Cons prompted Dualor to forcibly de-escalate the situation by sending a specialized "Mini-Con Ark" to Earth, which hypnotized the Mini-Cons and brought them back to Dualor's lunar fortress. Armada #8 Despite his attempts to convince Sparkplug, Leader-1, and Runway of his good intentions, Sparkplug felt that the paranoid, abusive Dualor would force them to join his cause, just as the Autobots and Decepticons had. Armada #9

Although Dualor's followers successfully repelled the first Decepticon incursion, a full-scale assault ended with the destruction of their moonbase; while many Mini-Cons boarded escape pods to Earth, Dualor, Buzzsaw, and Drill Bit fell into a triumphant Megatron's clutches. Armada #11 However, thanks to a cleverly integrated failsafe program, they were able to prevent Megatron from using their power against their will and allowed Dualor to strike a deal: they'd help him in exchange for a degree of leadership. Fire & Ice After their combined power drove Cyclonus insane, Megatron mused that he knew that the Mini-Cons would betray him as he retrieved them. Armada #13

Gotta catch 'em all!

Fleeing the advance of a dimension-hopping Unicron, the Mini-Con Over-Run abandoned his native universe aboard a null-reality pod in the hopes of finding another dimension that could stand up to the planet-eater. He brought with him the Mini-Con Matrix, an artifact into which all the Mini-Cons of his universe had placed their spark essences. Armada #13 Upon arriving, he immediately set up a beacon which attracted the attention of Autobots and Decepticons alike. Hot Shot and Mirage arrived first but were shot down by Starscream, who attempted to claim Over-Run for himself, seeing him merely as another Mini-Con to be used for battle and not realizing his origins. Worlds Collide, Part 1 of 4 After realizing Over-Run's true nature, he joined the Autobots as they tried to locate Optimus Prime, who'd been cast adrift in the multiverse by Over-Run's arrival. Upon rallying Sparkplug and a number of other Mini-Cons to break into the Decepticon's base and retrieve the pod, the Mini-Cons transported themselves to another dimension and rescued Optimus and Jetfire moments before Unicron destroyed that reality's Cybertron. The Mini-Con Matrix powered up all five of their forms, allowing Optimus Prime and Jetfire to combine, while the Mini-Cons linked with them, and together they blasted Unicron hard enough to make him notice them before warping back to their universe. Worlds Collide, Part 4 of 4

After bringing together all of Earth's Mini-Cons, Over-Run led them through a space bridge portal to Cybertron, where they channeled all of their spark essences through the Mini-Con Matrix and destroyed Unicron. The End

Cartoon continuity

It's time to battle, for a battle, 'till you drop.

Mini-Cons are unique "digital entities": while other Cybertronians comprised of living metal derive life and sentience from their individual sparks, Mini-Cons are entirely comprised of a unique form of self-sustaining energy known as a "Digital Entity Frame", Part soul, part genome, this inexhaustible power source dictates a Mini-Con's programming and physical appearance and allows them to physically alter an object's molecular structure or Powerlinx with larger Transformers. Linkage Part 7 If needed, a Mini-Con can enter a unique form of low-power stasis by dissipating their physical forms and converting back into pure energy stored within a tiny, nearly-indestructible "storage panel". Prehistory

All Mini-Cons possess a "Servility Program" that compels them to imprint upon the "bulk" who activates them and obey their new partner, no matter how cruelly they might be treated. Linkage Part 5 Although all Mini-Cons are creations of Unicron, "free" Mini-Cons who have developed the capacity for thought and free will are connected through a metaphysical dimension known as the Linkage. Without a physical form to ground them in the material world, they will diffuse into the sea of consciousness. The Master Key acts as a final failsafe; should a Mini-Con deviate from their original programming by connecting to the Linkage, they will lose access to their full power. Linkage Part 7

Although the vast majority of Mini-Cons spoke an indecipherable binary language, Force of Habit Mini-Cons can choose to form a mental link with other beings to allow for a more direct medium of communication. Linkage Part 2

Armada cartoon

Unicron created the Mini-Cons from his own cells, mindless drones who would agitate and amplify the civil war raging on Cybertron. Once unleashed on Cybertron, the Autobots and Decepticons would battle for control of these power-enhancing "smart tools"; the negative psychic energy unleashed by the rampant death and destruction would indirectly fuel Unicron; once he'd gathered enough power, the Mini-Cons would incapacitate their partners and Unicron would fully awaken to consume Cybertron and eliminate his biggest obstacle to devouring all of existence. Origin Unicron invested a large portion of his power into three Mini-Con teams who combined into weapons: the Star Saber, the Skyboom Shield, and the Requiem Blaster. This not only made them weapons of unimaginable power and potent sources of energy, but also the key to awakening Unicron from his hibernation. Portent

A number of other Mini-Cons displayed unusual powers: some could combine to form a larger robot, Comrade, others could Powerlinx with and control inanimate machines like Optimus Prime's trailer, Jungle, and one, High Wire, displayed the ability to manipulate time. Through this ability, three human children from the future--Rad White, Carlos Lopez and Alexis Thi Dang—were sent to the Mini-Cons' birthing chamber inside Unicron just seconds before the small robots emerged from their pods. As the Mini-Cons had been designed to form mental bonds with other life forms, Rad's contact with a newborn High Wire caused the newborn race to develop free will, empathy, and the capacity for self-determination. Drift

Catch you, catch me.

At some point after this, the Mini-Cons emerged on Cybertron in the midst of the Autobot-Decepticon civil war. The Decepticons quickly discovered the power offered by Powerlinxing and began enslaving every Mini-Con they encountered; in response, a group of Mini-Cons Sparkplug formed an alliance with the heroic Autobots and willingly shared their power with their partners. As the war dragged on, both sides realized the Mini-Cons had become the centerpiece of their conflict, and an agreement was made: the Mini-Cons would receive a ship that would let them leave Cybertron and find a new home somewhere else in the universe. To make the trip, the majority of Mini-Cons converted themselves into storage panels, leaving only a skeleton crew to pilot and maintain their ship. However, when the Exodus launched, the Decepticons ambushed the ship in an attempt to claim all the Mini-Cons, but the Autobots provided enough cover fire for the ship to safely warp out of Cybertronian space. Prehistory Unfortunately, the Decepticon attack and strain of passing through multiple warp gates damaged the ship and sent it and its cargo drifting aimlessly through space for many millions of years until the Exodus finally collided with Earth's moon and broke apart. As half of the ship fell into Earth's atmosphere, emergency systems fired Mini-Con panels in every direction and scattered them across the planet. First Encounter

While most of the Mini-Cons remained hidden over the intervening millennia, an advanced ancient culture discovered the three Mini-Cons who formed the Star Saber; when they unleashed its power during a war with another nation, the energies unleashed sunk their city beneath the sea and gave rise to the legend of Atlantis. Ruin Another civilization in the Sahara discovered Bonecrusher's panel and built a temple around it. Palace

Everybody Polkamon!

In the year 2010, Rad, Carlos, and Alexis discovered the wreckage of the Exodus buried beneath Lincoln and inadvertently activated a beacon that summoned both the Autobots and Decepticon to Earth in search of the newly reactivated Mini-Con panels. First Encounter Prehistory The two factions hunted Mini-Con after Mini-Con, but the three Mini-Con weapons eventually ended up in the hands of the Decepticons thanks to Unicron's servant Sideways and the conflicted loyalties of Starscream. Crack They'd be used to power the Decepticon's planet-destroying Hydra Cannon, which was only prevented from destroying Earth by Optimus Prime's sacrifice ThreatenCrisis By pooling their power with the Matrix of Leadership, the Autobot-allied Mini-Cons were capable of restoring Optimus to life. Miracle

When the Autobot and Decepticons found themselves under assault by Unicron's minion Nemesis Prime, the assembled Mini-Cons used their powers as a group to restore and empower their larger partners. Puppet When their creator finally reared his head to assault Cybertron, the Mini-Cons would merge into a giant doppelganger to face him. Union However, Unicron was able to temporarily reset the Mini-Cons and return them to their original mindless states, although the deep connection between the Rad and his Mini-Con friend High Wire permanently broke Unicron's hold over them. Origin

Linkage comic

When humanity interfered with the newly born Mini-Cons at the moment of their creation and granted them something akin to a soul, not all the Mini-Cons were freed. A small number of Mini-Cons remained loyal to their creator and made it their mission to hunt down their "renegade" brethren—specially programmed Fixer Bugs forcibly Powerlinxed with their victims and cut them off from the Linkage by overwriting their core programming and reducing them back to a storage panel form. Once reactivated and released, the "new" Mini-Con would once again be a slave to Unicron. Linkage Part 5

In the modern day, Unicron loyalists Midship and Top Gear travelled to Earth to capture and reprogram the Mini-Cons recently loosed upon the planet. After forcibly recruiting Tailslide to their side, the trio pursued the recently reacitvated Super Stunt Team, who'd recently taken shelter with the human Stella Holley after using their powers to hastily reconfigure her car into a weapon. Linkage Part 2 In between trying to elude their Unicronian brethren activating other Mini-Cons, Redline began searching for a way to truly free his people, inspired by a vision of "the terrible one" while freeing Twirl's spirit from the Linkage, he turned his attention to finding a way to unlock the Master Key: when Mini-Cons gained sentience and free will, Unicron's failsafe would activate and "lock away" much of their power. Linkage Part 8

Thanks to obtaining scans of the Unicron-allied Mini-Cons, Redline devised an "evolution" device that would allow them to finally unlock the Master Key programming, break their Servility Programs, and awaken their true abilities. Linkage Part 9 However, as they prepared for this momentous leap forward, the Aqua Raider Team unleashed the murderous, Doomstone-enhanced Ravenus on the free Mini-Cons; using his enhanced Powerlinx abilities, he forcibly Powerlinxed witih Twirl and Servo with the intent of using this link to unleash the Doomstone's negative psychic energy into the Linkage and permanently return the Mini-Cons to their original state by destroying the Linkage. Linkage Part 10 The upgraded Mini-Cons, now growing in number as the Master Key spread to all "free" Mini-Cons through the Linkage, used their new powers to reverse the mutations and return Ravenus to his original form, as well as safely remove the Doomstone from his body. Following this, the remaining Mini-Cons on Earth departed to meet up with the Autobots as they prepared for their battle against Unicron. Linkage Part 12

After Unicron's destruction, all of the Mini-Cons created a city somewhere on Earth, safe from the machinations of Unicron or the Decepticons, and extended an invitation to their friend Stella to join them. Linkage Part 13

Cloud

The existence of Mini-Cons as a great source of power was not known to the denizens of the Cloud World till the Starscream of that world forced a pursuit into the spacetime known as 15-MD. The native Starscream of that spacetime was seeking a Mini-Con when the Cloud Worlders arrived, and so Cloud Starscream joined his counterpart to find the Mini-Con in some South American ruins. Encounter In the resulting battle that ensued between Optimus Prime, Brawn, and the two Starscreams, the Mini-Con storage panel was destroyed by Cloud Starscream, angering everybody else involved. Hammer However, the soul of the Mini-Con within the panel—Over-Run—was able to contact SARA, and the Cloud World entity was able to tap into the power of the Mini-Cons through incorporating this soul within her. Using the Mini-Cons' energy as a form of "spacetime energy", SARA was able to return all of the visitors to their home reality. Return

Energon cartoon

Ten years after Unicron's defeat, most of the Mini-Cons had left Earth, although the Street Action Team remained active in Ocean City. Cybertron City Later, the Energon Saber Mini-Con Team fled Tidal Wave and Scorponok's attack on Mars City, and used their combined form to great effect as Kicker 's private weapon. Megatron's Sword

Cybertron cartoon

Aloha e komo mai.

During the war against the forces of Planet X, the citizens of Gigantion used their Cyber Planet Key to grow to colossal sizes and emerged triumphant. However, the sudden size discrepancy left them unable to interact with many of the computers and delicate machines they utilized. Thus, the Mini-Cons who'd arrived with the original colonists found a new role as “little detail” workers who assisted their larger companions with the delicate tasks and intricate work they could no longer perform as they toiled away on their endless construction projects. As a result of these unique selective pressures, future generations of Mini-Cons would convergently evolve a brain structure similar to a human’s, which offered an increased capacity for creative thought and lateral thinking. Scourge As on Cybertron, individual Cybertronians could Powerlinx and formed symbiotic partnerships with their larger comrades. Giant

The citizens of Gigantion built an entire Mini-Con scaled city to house these smaller workers in-between construction projects; to accommodate the unique, human-like needs of its citizens, it featured ample greenery, playgrounds, museums, and even an amusement park. In time, however, this city, like all the other cities created by the citizens of Gigantion, would be quietly abandoned and sealed over millennia. Scourge

During the Unicron Singularity crisis, Vector Prime brought Safeguard and the Recon Mini-Con Team to Earth, where they quickly befriended the human children Coby, Bud, and Lori. Fallen When the search for the four Cyber Planet Keys brought Optimus Prime and his allies to Gigantion, several Mini-Cons accompanied Bud to the lower levels of their homeworld, where Jolt taught his human friend their history. Scourge

After reaching the Lemuria at the core of Giant Planet, Gigantion leader Metroplex was forced to fight the renegade Menasor. Their battle ended when their respective Mini-Cons Drill Bit and Heavy Load leapt in the way and forced the pair to come to a peaceful resolution. Optimus After Galvatron’s final defeat, a number of Mini-Cons, both Cybertron and Gigantion, took part in the ceremony that marked the rebirth of the long-abandoned space bridge project. Beginning

Cybertron comic

By the time of the Unicron Singularity crisis, most of the Mini-Cons living on Cybertron had relocated to Cybertron's moons, where they established a number of self-sufficient colonies under the governance of an appointed Council of Sages who desired independence from both the Autobots and Decepticons. As the Singularity threatened to consume Cybertron and its myriad satellites, Council member Anti-Blaze began work on a self-sufficient evacuation fleet that would take every Mini-Con to the S-K System... only for Thrust, agent of a group of Mini-Con insurgents, to destroy six stellar cycles of work in an hour. This opening salvo heralded the beginning of the Mini-Con Civil War between Anti-Blaze's independents and a group of malcontents led by the Sky Terror Mini-Con Team and abetted by the Decepticons. Although Anti-Blaze quickly marshalled a fighting force and pushed the rebels back into a neighbouring asteroid field, Anti-Blaze, Scythe, & Checkpoint's profile in Club magazine #11 rumours of a Decepticon superweapon prompted Anti-Blaze to swallow his pride and contact Cybertron for help. Revelations Part 4

Aided by a dimension-hopping Optimus Prime, Ultra Magnus and Sentinel Maximus, the remaining Autobots on Cybertron took the fight to the insurgents; the brief war came to a swift end shortly afterwards, when a reborn Unicron arrived on the battlefield and killed many of the rebel Mini-Cons while absorbing the life forces of their Decepticon partners. After Primus's reactivation and the subsequent closure of the Unicron Singularity, Alpha Trion and Over-Run promised to assist Anti-Blaze in hunting down the remaining Mini-Con separatists. Revelations Part 6 After the fall of the Sky Terror Team, Perceptor assisted in mopping up the remainder of the rebels. Street Action Team's profile in Club magazine #12

Timelines

A hidden arsenal on Combatron housed many of the most dangerous weapons known to Cybertronians, including several Mini-Con storage panels. Force of Habit

The Powerlinx process involved a data transfer protocol; through this, a full-sized Cybertronian could obtain information from one or more Mini-Cons by linking with their data banks and reading their memories. The Powerlinx process could also prove extremely addictive, The Dark Heart of Sandokan to the point where some Cybertronians who'd completely succumbed to their addiction would force unwilling Mini-Cons to bond with them. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/09/18 A few 'bots like Ultra Magnus and Overload would turn a mere partnership into a true symbiosis by undergoing a binary bonding process that physically merged the two together into a single shared robot form. Force of Habit Ask Vector Prime, 2015/09/18

In the years after Unicron's second defeat, some Mini-Cons switched over to speaking Cybertronian Standard to facilitate communication with their larger partners, The Dark Heart of Sandokan although by this time some Cybertronians eschewed Mini-Cons and energon chips in favour of the more reliable Cyber Keys. Force of Habit

Panini Armada comic

They'll trip you up, give you a flat tire, or make your socks go missing in the dryer.

The war on Cybertron began with a series of Decepticon raids upon the planet's Mini-Con villages. Decepticons found ways to forcibly re-engineer the Mini-Cons so that they would power-link with unwilling partners. Although the Autobots rose up to fight back, some Mini-Cons viewed both sides with distrust—on one occasion, the Mini-Con separatist Dualor engineered a phony crisis that would wipe out both Optimus Prime and Megatron, but Sparkplug warned Optimus of the ruse and foiled his plan. Counter-Strike! Eventually, Sparkplug and most of the remaining free Mini-Cons departed Cybertron aboard a spaceship, which later crashed on Earth's moon and scattered multiple Mini-Cons across Earth. First Encounter!

In 1959, the United States military chanced across the Land Military Mini-Con Team, who'd they found buried underneath Los Angeles. The top-secret Extra-Terrestrial Response Division made an effort to understand the aliens, and later used inhibitor clamps to turn them into mindless weapons, but the trio overrode the clamps, went rogue, and escaped to the nearby town of Stillwater before the ETRD recaptured their assets, but not before the team passed along a message to local human Amos Hume. Blast from the Past! Fifty years later, Rad White and his friends chanced across the crashed spaceship and triggered a planetary reactivation beacon that reached Cybertron. First Encounter!

From the stars and the ancient past; they come to play, but they'll never last.

As the Autobots and Decepticons arrived to locate the lost Mini-Cons, Sparkplug and his allies initially declined to choose a side in the war, but later joined forces with Optimus and his troops. Friends and Foes! Despite the misgivings of both the humans and the Mini-Cons, Optimus Prime later decided to send the Mini-Cons back through a space bridge to Cybertron for safekeeping, but when they stood their ground against a Decepticon attack Optimus let them stay. No Way Back! Although Sparkplug, Longarm, and Jolt tried to free the Decepticon Mini-Cons, they found that Leader-1 and his compatriots were quite happy to serve the Decepticons. Into the Lions' Den Other Mini-Cons like the Air Defense Mini-Con Team were quite happy to remain independent from the war, Devices and Desires! but later found themselves captured by the ETRD and learned what had befallen their brethren in the Land Military Team. 'We Are Not Alone!' The team eventually crashed an ETRD auction and rescued their fellow Mini-Cons with the assistance of Rad and Amos. Sale of the Century!

In the meantime, Optimus and his forces rescued a number of dormant Mini-Cons from Megatron on the moon. Between Two Worlds! Starscream later tried to force the Air Defense team to form the mighty Star Sabre by deactivating their personality chips, but without their individual personalities to modulate the sword's power Starscream nearly lost control of his weapon. [The Two-Edged Blade! Later, Optimus pretended to surrender the Mini-Cons in exchange for amnesty; Earthshaker!after his successful doublecross, the Mini-Cons adrift aboard a solar barge rescued themselves from Cyclonus. Lost in Space! Dualor and the other members of the Destruction Mini-Con Team, seeking vengeance against all Cybertronians, Powerlinxed with Cyclonus and overrode his own motor functions until Starscream used a Sonic destabiliser to forcibly disengage the Powerlinx. Dawn of Destruction!

Reader's Digest Armada novels

Four million years ago, the Mini-Cons found themselves caught in the middle of the Autobot-Decepticon war, which came to a head when the Mini-Cons were gathered in a giant orbiting storage facility as the ultimate prize. However, after the destruction of Cybertron's moon, both sides called a truce and sent the Mini-Cons away aboard a starship. To keep the Mini-Cons from being used by other alien races, their ship included a warp gate that would teleport representatives from both the Autobots and Decepticons should the need arise. However, gathering the Mini-Cons together had an unexpected side effect; their collective intelligence grew, and they developed feelings of independence and solidarity. By the time that their ship crashed on the Moon, the Mini-Cons' existence became a half-forgotten legend amongst the other Transformers as war reignited between the two factions; when humans discovered the Mini-Cons, the warp gate brought Cybertronians to Earth to continue their battle. The Battle Begins

Transformers Legends anthology

In one reality, many thousands of years after their return to Cybertron, the Mini-Cons remembered and honoured the generosity of their long-dead human friends by celebrating Halloween. Something Robotic This Way Comes

In another universe, the Mini-Con QuickFire brought his comatose partner Riptide to Earth to recover. While Riptide's body and mind healed, Quickfire, who transformed into Riptide's engine block, could remotely control his larger partner's alternate mode. Lonesome Diesel

Ask Vector Prime

In a unique variation of Batesian mimicry, a number of Mini-Cons have adopted the names of particularly powerful or dangerous Cybertronians in an attempt to intimidate those who might otherwise capture them. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/05/15

In universe Aurex 1104.30-DB Zeta, Dr. Jones reverse-engineered combiner technology and applied it to a number of Mini-Cons. The upgrade changed them into Micromasters, an entirely new breed of Transformer; with six beings Powerlinxing together, they packed tremendous energy into a frame no larger than the average Cybertronian. Ask Vector Prime, 31/7/2015

The Mini-Cons of Aurex 304.0 Epsilon were creations of Primacron, and sparked a three-way war between the Autobots, Decepticons, and Omnicons until Megazarak and the Destructicons invaded. From this conquest, Megazarak acquried Caliburn as his personal Mini-Con. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/11

In Aurex 1104.30-JH Zeta, time-travelling Maximals and Predacons fought the Beast Wars for control of the Mini-Cons hidden on Earth. Although some Mini-Cons willingly joined forces with the Beast Warriors, others remained neutral. The conflict ended with Optimus Primal and his followers rescuing all the Mini-Cons in Megatron's custody. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/13 Another parallel-universe iteration of the Beast Wars in Aurex 615.03 Epsilon had the Mini-Con crews of the Hyperion and Doomsday journey to Alpha Q's universe to provide reinforcements. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/09/23

Vector Prime observed the many similarities between Mini-Cons, Micromasters, and Cyberdroids, and noted that, due to trans-dimensional harmonic resonance, a Mini-Con might have identical counterparts who belonged to one of these other groups in other universal clusters, while small Autobots like Minimus Ambus had Mini-Con, Micromaster, and Cyberdroid counterparts elsewhere in the multiverse. More than once, Vector opined that the distinction between the three subgroups boiled down to linguistics—in his opinion, different realities used different names to describe the same core concept. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/05/20 Ask Vector Prime, 2015/06/07

Spacewarp's Log

Early in her career, Spacewarp spent her time searching for a rumoured "lost tribe" of Mini-Cons who'd fled the war and established a colony somewhere in the vicinity of the planet Tasmos. Spacewarp's Log (1), 2015/10/30

Generation 1 continuity family

3H comics

Ramulus sardonically compared the timid CatSCAN to an "apologetic Mini-Con". Betrayal

Classics

In the aftermath of Unicron's devastating attack on Cybertron in 1991, Hi-Q and a group of humans discovered the mythical Last Autobot and roused him from his slumber. Although the Last Autobot realized that his power would be needed elsewhere, he recognized that Cybertron had suffered severe damage and created a race of stewards who would gradually rebuild Cybertron and nurse the wounded world back to health. Using data acquired from the binary-bonded fusion of Hi-Q and the rebuilt Optimus Prime's Action Master body, he created the Mini-Cons, and imbued each with a fragment of his own spark so that they could access his own formidable powers. Modus Prime, the first Mini-Con created, became the leader of this new race. The New World

An explosion at a nucleon processing plant mutated the full-sized Dinobot Swoop into a Mini-Con form. Despite his dramatic loss in physical size, he enjoyed his new form's speed and accuracy. Swoop's profile in Club magazine #18

Over the next fifteen years, the Mini-Cons worked to repair Cybertron, in anticipation of the day when all Cybertronians could return home; in addition to rebuilding the planet's infrastructure, the Mini-Cons waged a brutal extermination campaign against the Demons and Mutants who dwelt in the planet's labyrinthine underlevels. However, as their work neared completion, a number of Mini-Cons began questioning their appointed roles after one Mini-Con, Broadside, discovered the Decepticon philosophy; after more than a decade of waging war against Primus's discarded experiments, he grew fearful that Primus would cast them aside too. In the name of preserving the world they'd built for Mini-Cons and Mini-Cons alone, Broadside orchestrated the assassination of Modus Prime, silenced anyone who'd seen the crime, and lied about a fabricated "madness plague" to justify the quarantine of Cybertron. However, news of Broadside's role in the murder soon spread, and before long Cybertron collapsed back into a new civil war between Broadside's rogue faction and the loyalists. The New World

Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity

The Mini-Cons of this universe are a sub-set of the diminutive Micromasters. When most of the Micromaster population fell under the command of Hot Rod to found their own civilization on Planet Micro, some elected to remain with the Autobots to help them continue the war. These little 'bots partnered up with larger Transformers, adopting weapon and equipment alternate modes (in addition to their vehicular forms) which their partners could wield. Like the Mini-Cons from other universes, they provide their partners with a power-up by connecting to them when in weapon mode. Some of the earliest known include Tailgate and Swerve's partners Groundshaker and Phaser. Tailgate/G1 Mini-Con Chapter

Evidence suggests that Mini-Cons would persist into the Beast Era: the enigmatic Wedge Shape, as well as several of the combatants involved in the "Eternal Prisoner" conflict, professed Maximal and Predacon allegiances. Micron Booster Ver. 4 Additionally, Mini-Con Dragoyell took part in the Beast Wars. Dragoyell's bio

2005 IDW continuity

After the conclusion of the First Cybertronian Civil War, Micronus Prime left Cybertron aboard the Titan Prion and together they colonized a distant world. White Heat Using the hot spot within his body, Prion birthed a civilization of Mini-Cons. The Permanent Revolution Approximately seven million years ago, Micronus left the colony to fend for itself while he retreated into a unique sub-atomic realm known as Microspace. Crisis Intervention

In the 21st century, the peaceful planet met its end when the robo-phobic Black Block Consortia discovered and promptly sterilized the planet. The sole survivor, a female four-changer named Nickel, joined up with the Decepticon Justice Division when they chanced across the ruined world a few days after the attack. The Permanent Revolution

When the Transformers first encountered the Stentarian species, they mistook the tiny Ammonites for miniature Decepticons, and Brainstorm nicknamed them "Minicons". Little Victories

Fun Publications Shattered Glass continuity

Sideswipe referred to his Micromaster partner Whisper as his "Mini-Con", short for "mini-Decepticon". Whisper's profile in Club magazine #25

Live-action film series

Mini-Cons are a mysterious group of small Transformers. Known Mini-Cons include Longarm, Scalpel, Frenzy, Chopster, and Bomb-Burst.

In a reality where Megatron won the battle of Chicago, he recruited a trio of Mini-Cons that included Boombox, Scalpel, and Heavyweight. Cybertron's Most Wanted The whole lot of them were transported to Axiom Nexus when Megatron plummeted off a space bridge after a battle against Rodimus Prime. Though Heavyweight and the other Mini-Cons were identified by the TransTechs, they overlooked Megatron himself, believing his truck mode to simply be a derelict heap. BotCon 2015 Megatron bio card

Over at the NEST base in Beijing, Bumblebee turned Metrobase's Medi-Bay facility into a dance floor for a group of Mini-Cons while Ratchet was away. Bumblebee Boogie

Power Core Combiners

Commanders had the ability to combine with Mini-Cons, which powered up their abilities in vaguely defined ways.^[1] Some power ups are given more specific descriptions: Huffer became faster, stronger, and smarter; Searchlight got extended operational duration; Leadfoot became invisible to sensors; and Darkstream received enhanced maneuverability.^[2]

Animated

The Autobots used Mini-Cons to guard high-security prison facilities like Trypticon Prison in Kaon. The Stunti-Con Job Although Mini-Cons were supposedly loyal to the Autobot regime, a few cynics like Sideswipe had their doubts. The AllSpark Almanac Addendum

Aligned continuity family

Mini-Cons (sometimes spelled Minicons) are a race of small, human-sized Transformers who inhabit Cybertron's two moons. Exodus Descendants of Micronus Prime, the first Mini-Con,^[3] they come in a great variety of shapes; though some adopt humanoid forms, others possess animalistic beast modes instead.

In these realities, the majority of Mini-Cons do not Powerlinx with larger Transformers, and only Mini-Cons who have been specifically altered at the genetic level can utilize a variation of this power. Instead, Mini-Cons who form partnerships with the Autobots or Decepticons adopt specialized alternate modes that allow them to interlock with their larger partners to form an additional layer of armor. These specialized "Deployers", as they are known, can be summoned into action by their larger partner, whereupon they detach and transform back into their robot configurations. By the time of Cybertron's restoration following the end of the war, such Mini-Cons are subdivided into three groups: Autobot "buzzsaws," Decepticon "torpedoes," and unaligned "Cyclones," who have spherical alternate modes. Knock, Knock!

Aligned novels

Although some Cybertronians displayed prejudice against Minicons—Megatron despised them, while Orion Pax associated them with distrust—they nevertheless had a political presence in the pre-war era, with representative Ratbat serving on the planet's High Council. Minicons could choose to communicate with other Cybertronians, but while conducting espionage or sabotage missions they usually communicated via a series of tightly coded electronic pulses.

During the buildup to the planet's Great War, the nascent Decepticon movement made extensive use of Minicons in various terrorist acts: thirty-six Decepticon-allied Minicons bombed the Six Lasers Over Cybertron amusement park, and another destroyed Fort Scyk. A number of Mini-Cons attended the fateful meeting of the High Council that saw Orion Pax promoted to the rank of Prime.

When war broke out in earnest, a pair of Autobot-allied Minicon saboteurs stole the secrets of Decepticon combiner technology, which allowed the Autobots to create Defensor. Multiple Decepticon Minicons served aboard the Trypticon facility during the final battle before the exodus to Earth. Exodus

Cartoon continuity

Prime cartoon

Did you bring hummus?

A new group of Mini-Cons were created on Earth when the planet's energon infused the Transformers' weapons with life and the power to transform. These new robots became known as the Arms Microns. Arms Micron Theater

2015 Robots in Disguise cartoon

During the Great War, Decepticon scientists captured and genetically modified seven Mini-Cons into "Weaponizers", an aberrant group of Mini-Cons who could transform into weapons and override the motor functions of the Transformers who Powerlinxed with them. Anyone who could Powerlinx with all seven at once would become even stronger than even a Prime. Mini-Con Madness Worthy The project was incomplete when Megatron dissolved the Decepticons, and Starscream discovered their stasis-locked bodies in the depths of Darkmount while fleeing Skylynx and Darksteel. Before he could turn them to his own ends, however, the Weaponizers escaped and fell in with the Scavengers to take them somewhere off Cybertron before Starscream could find them. Mini-Con Madness

Another group of Mini-Cons, known as Caretakers, appear to have been mass-produced through some unknown process. While some members of this group, including those found aboard a wrecked spaceship from the Great War, acted like pre-programmed drones, Deep Trouble the Autobot High Council considered them self-sufficient to the point where they could autonomously run large prison ships such as the Alchemor. Some of these Caretakers, most prominently Fixit, possessed the capability for free will and independent thought, but reverted to a mindless "sentry mode" when Denny Clay tampered with his internal workings. The Trouble with Fixit When the Alchemor crashed on Earth, the freed Decepticon prisoners revolted and enslaved the Mini-Cons. When the Bee Team arrived to take the ship, they joined in overthrowing their captors and eventually returned to Cybertron. Decepticon Island (Part 1) Decepticon Island (Part 2)

Shortly after this, the Weaponizers arrived on Earth, pursued by Starscream and a number of rogue agents; after clashing with the Scavengers a few times, the Weaponizers sided with the Autobots. Starscream attempted to merge with the Mini-Cons, only for it to fail because Tricerashot was missing, but even after obtaining the power of all seven Fixit was able to activate a signal and separate Aerobolt. Aerobolt Powerlinxed with Optimus, and gave the Autobot leader the last boost of power he needed to destroy the super-powered Starscream. Afterwards, Aerobolt and his fellow Mini-Cons left Earth aboard the Scavenger's sub-orbital ship to find a new planet where they could live in peace. Worthy

The Cybertronian High Council experimented on the Mini-Cons Stuntwing, Trickout, Goldgear, and Hi-Test; in addition to erasing their memories, they also received the power to upgrade Transformers through Powerlinxing and open GroundBridges to the Shadowzone in order to assist Soundwave in his escape. Collateral Damage

Rescue Bots cartoon

Back against the wall, you gonna give it your all.

After escaping the prison ship Alchemor, the rogue Mini-Con Bounce fled through the Bee Team's GroundBridge and made a mess of Griffin Rock until Blurr and Sideswipe recaptured him. The Need for Speed

TransTech

The first dimensionally-displaced Mini-Cons to arrive in the city of Axiom Nexus were misidentified as Micromasters until the discovery of the Aurex cluster. Rook - Axiom Nexus News, 2015/05/09 During the "Mass Reemergence", numerous Mini-Cons in the Aurex Cluster suddenly appeared on the Transcendent Technomorphs' scanners. These Mini-Cons became pawns in the Autobot-Decepticon war and eventually attracted Unicron, who sought to use them to make himself more powerful. Howeve,r the Mini-Cons combined their power to single-handedly defeat Unicron, and an unlikely peace prevailed when the Mini-Cons demanded to be left alone. The Transcendent Technomorph Heinrad emerged into this Aurex universe and offered the Mini-Cons a choice: stay and help the Autobot-Decepticon war effort, or leave to live in peace in Axiom Nexus. Most chose the latter option. Rook - Axiom Nexus News, 2015/05/09

Upon arriving in Axiom Nexus, many Mini-Cons who hailed from "Alpha" universal clusters, where Mini-Cons spoke their own unique language, failed the Ambus Test used to gauge the sentience of mechanical beings. Eventually, the Mini-Con Sprite, native of a "Gamma" universe in which Mini-Cons spoke intelligibly, campaigned for increased awareness of Mini-Con rights. Thanks to her efforts, the Ambus Test was subsequently phased out and replaced with the more inclusive Turtler Test. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/16

Mini-Cons who hailed from Aurex 906.29 Alpha were known for their crude humor. Andromeda - Axiom Nexus News, 2016/05/04

Toys

Blackout Powerlinxing with Demolishor

Mini-Con toys debuted as the signature element of the Armada franchise, bringing the "micro play pattern" back to Transformers after many years' absence. Much like Armada itself, the Mini-Cons proved to be a smash hit with fans and kids, and Hasbro scrambled to include them in the subsequent franchises.

Most Mini-Cons stand around 2" tall, roughly the same size as their Micromaster predecessors. Most Mini-Cons are considerably more complex, as well; unlike Micromasters, there's no single dominant transformation scheme. With dozens of molds, Mini-Cons cover a wide range of articulation, size, alternate modes, and complexity. Aesthetically, their facial designs tend toward the unorthodox.

Each Mini-Con includes one or more Powerlinx ports somewhere on their body, a 5mm round peg-slot that allows them to be attached to any "Bulk" figure with a corresponding Powerlinx peg. These pegs were standard-issue on the larger, original-mold Armada toys, where at least one such peg could be used to activate various gimmicks on each large figure. Toys from subsequent franchises have featured Powerlinx pegs only as a static feature. Due to the center-peg of the Powerlinx port, they are incompatible with normal 5mm posts. Later Mini-Cons (starting with the Power Core Combiners series) would sometimes have 5mm holes without the "signature" center-peg.

Armada

3-pack team molds Adventure Mini-Con Team: Dune Runner (dune buggy), Iceberg (snowcat), Ransack (jeep) Air Defense Mini-Con Team: Jetstorm (Concorde jet), Runway (supersonic bomber), Sonar (space shuttle) Air Military Mini-Con Team: Gunbarrel (cargo jet), Terradive (recon jet), Thunderwing (stealth bomber) Destruction Mini-Con Team: Buzzsaw (excavator), Drill Bit (mining vehicle), Dualor (tank) Emergency Mini-Con Team: Firebot (fire engine), Makeshift (VTOL plane), Prowl (police cruiser)

Land Military Mini-Con Team: Bonecrusher (missile transport), Knock Out (armored personnel carrier), Wreckage (tracked missile platform) Race Mini-Con Team: Dirt Boss (rally SUV), Downshift (Le Mans racer), Mirage (Indy racer) Sea Mini-Con Team: Oceanglide (solar-powered boat), Stormcloud (speedboat), Waterlog (hovercraft) Space Mini-Con Team: Astroscope (space station), Payload (rocket transporter), Sky Blast (rocket) Street Action Mini-Con Team: Grindor (skateboard), High Wire (dirtbike), Sureshock (motor scooter) Street Speed Mini-Con Team: Backtrack (sportscar), Oval (sportscar), Spiral (sportscar)

Air Military Mini-Con Team

Partner Mini-Con molds Sparkplug (partner: Super Optimus Prime) Longarm (partner: Red Alert) Jolt (partner: Hot Shot) Liftor (partner: Smokescreen) Over-Run (partner: Supercon Optimus Prime) Rollbar (partner: Scavenger) Incinerator (partner: Blurr) Comettor (partner: Jetfire) Nightbeat (partner: Side Swipe) Refute (partner: Hoist) Rollout (partner: Overload)

Leader-1 (partner: Megatron) Swindle (partner: Starscream) Blackout (partner: Demolishor) Crumplezone (partner: Cyclonus) Inferno (partner: Thrust) Ramjet (partner: Tidal Wave) Wind Sheer (partner: Wheeljack) Thunderclash (partner: Skywarp) Dead End (partner: Unicron) Rook and Crosswise (partner: Sideways)

Leader-1, with wider hips than were entirely necessary.

Legends of the Microns

Unicron of Light

• Hikari no Unicron (campaign prize item)
  • Accessories: Chest missile, 6 leg missiles

The "Unicron of Light" toy is a redeco of Armada Unicron in an emerald, light green, blue, and white color-scheme. This Unicron was the prize for a lucky-draw contest in Japan.

Energon

3-pack team molds Energon Saber Team: Scattor (Concorde), Skyboom (space shuttle), Wreckage (supersonic bomber) Street Action Mini-Con Team: Grindor (hoverboard), High Wire (motorbike), Sureshock (four-wheeler)

The Energon Saber

Cybertron

Partner Mini-Con molds Drill Bit (partner: Metroplex) Stripmine (partner: Quickmix) Heavy Load (partner: Menasor) Safeguard (partner: Vector Prime)

Menasor's partner Heavy Load

3-packs Recon Mini-Con Team: Jolt (helicopter), Six-Speed (LeMans race car), Reverb (pickup truck) Giant Planet Mini-Con Team: Deepdive (submarine), Longarm (double-crane truck), Overcast (military cargo plane)

Kabaya Six-Speed

Classics

3-packs Demolition Team: Broadside, Sledge, Wideload Dinobots: Knockdown, Swoop, Terrorsaur Night Rescue Team: Divebomb, Firebot, Strongarm Clear Skies Team: Nightscream, Steel Wind, Thunderwing Dirt Digger Team: Dirt Rocket, Grindor, Oil Slick Predator Attack Team: Dreadwing, Overbite, Snarl

Clear Skies Team

Star Wars Transformers

Partner Mini-Cons TIE Fighters (partner: Darth Vader)

TIE Fighters

Universe (2008)